An arbitrary classification of the terms for grouping related observations together. The current classifications are listed in Table 29. We present the database sorted by the class field within class type (see field 23). Users of the database should feel free to re-sort the database in any way they find useful, and/or to add their own classifying fields to the database.
The content of the laboratory test subclasses should be obvious from the subclass name.

VersionLastChanged

2.42

The LOINC version number in which the record has last
changed. For new records, this field contains the same value as
the loinc.FirstPublishedRelease field.

"This term is not proposed for use in the United States, who will continue to use the NGSP protocol and report the Hgb A1c as %."

Narrative text that describes the LOINC term taken as a whole
(i.e., taking all of the parts of the term together) or relays
information specific to the term, such as the context in which
the term was requested or its clinical utility.

Status

ACTIVE

ACTIVE = Concept is active. Use at will.
TRIAL = Concept is experimental in nature. Use with caution as the concept and associated attributes may change.
DISCOURAGED = Concept is not recommended for current use. New mappings to this concept are discouraged; although existing may mappings may continue to be valid in context. Wherever possible, the superseding concept is indicated in the MAP_TO field in the MAP_TO table (see Table 28b) and should be used instead.
DEPRECATED = Concept is deprecated. Concept should not be used, but it is retained in LOINC for historical purposes. Wherever possible, the superseding concept is indicated in the MAP_TO field (see Table 28b) and should be used both for new mappings and updating existing implementations.

Class Type

1

1=Laboratory class; 2=Clinical class; 3=Claims attachments; 4=Surveys

Example Answers

HbA1c (IFCC) 53 mmol/mol

For some tests and measurements, we have supplied examples of valid answers, such as “1:64”, “negative @ 1:16”, or “55”.

Units Required

N

Y/N field that indicates that units are required when this LOINC is included as an OBX segment in a HIPAA attachment

This is a new field introduced in version 2.05. It contains synonyms for each of the parts of the fully specified LOINC name (component, property, time, system, scale, method). It replaces #8, Relat_NMS.

Short Name

Hgb A1c SFr Bld IFCC

Introduced in version 2.07, this field is a concatenation of the fully specified LOINC name. The field width may change in a future release.

Order OBS

Both

Defines term as order only, observation only, or both. A fourth category, Subset, is used for terms that are subsets of a panel but do not represent a package that is known to be orderable we have defined them only to make it easier to maintain panels or other sets within the LOINC construct.

Example Units

mmol/mol

This field is populated with a combination of submitters units and units that people have sent us. Its purpose is to show users representative, but not necessarily recommended, units in which data could be sent for this term.

Long Common Name

Hemoglobin A1c/Hemoglobin.total in Blood by IFCC protocol

This field contains the LOINC term in a more readable format than the fully specified name. The long common names have been created via a table driven algorithmic process. Most abbreviations and acronyms that are used in the LOINC database have been fully spelled out in English.

Example UCUM Units

%

The Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM) is a code system intended to include all units of measures being
contemporarily used in international science, engineering, and business. (www.unitsofmeasure.org ) This field contains example units of measures for this term expressed as UCUM units.

Common Test Rank

0

Ranking of approximately 2000 common tests performed by laboratories in USA.

Common Order Rank

0

Ranking of approximately 300 common orders performed by laboratories in USA.

Common SI Test Rank

0

Corresponding SI terms for 2000 common tests performed by laboratories in USA.